


Deep Play: Notes on the Moonshadow Elves

by pusdowriting



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon), The Interpretation of Cultures
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Anthropology, Deep Play Parody, F/M, Politics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-25 06:13:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21731386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pusdowriting/pseuds/pusdowriting
Summary: Callum is invited to Xadia by the Dragon Queen as the first official human guest in over a thousand years. He is there to build bridges, learn and perhaps to find love. (The first chapter is background and proof of concept).A parody of "Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight" an essay included in the book The Interpretation of Cultures by anthropologist Clifford Geertz. I was reading it at the same time as watching Season 3 and my mind melded them together. Here is the product of that melding.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Kudos: 38





	Deep Play: Notes on the Moonshadow Elves

**Author's Note:**

> Callum is invited to Xadia by the Dragon Queen as the first official human guest in over a thousand years. He is there to build bridges, learn and perhaps to find love. (The first chapter is background and proof of concept). 
> 
> A parody of "Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight" an essay included in the book The Interpretation of Cultures by anthropologist Clifford Geertz. I was reading it at the same time as watching Season 3 and my mind melded them together. Here is the product of that melding.

It was early April when Callum had arrived in the Silver Grove and spring had given the air a subtle yet consistent floral smell, the intensity of which though mild enough to be enjoyable did play with his nose and agitate the early signs of hayfever. It was hard not to feel entranced by the fairyland he now occupied, having only heard stories of Xadia from his youth. The political situation between Xadia and the human kingdoms had made travel quite impossible previously. As a result he never would have expected to see the land with his own eyes. This privilege was the result of a most precious gift. Upon his neck, Callum wore a necklace which acted as the legal passport for him to enter Xadia. It was a moonstone, elegantly carved and decorated with the more usual precious stones like sapphires and diamonds. Callum also understood that it had some magical properties though he could get little more information than that from the envoy which had brought it to him. The stone was a gift from the Dragon Queen herself for his efforts in uncovering the conspiracy of the Dragon Prince’s disappearance. Though it was Ezran not him who discovered the egg, both of the princes had made the decision to reveal the secret to their father—for Callum stepfather. 

Once uncovered they had all jumped at the opportunity to return the Dragon Prince as a peace offering, with the hope of averting conflict. All things considered, the peace offering did more than expected. The Dragon Queen gave a gift to all the members of the royal family in her gratitude. Harrow received a full and official pardon for his commitment of regicide, Ezran was gifted a unicorn—which he loved dearly and spent far too much time with—and Callum received the moonstone. The opportunity to see Xadia as the first human visitor in over a thousand years. 

Callum had made the arrangements to go within days of receiving his most extraordinary gift. It would have been unwise not to, as the invitation to Xadia was perhaps the most revolutionary evolutions of human-xadian relations in recent memory. Unsurprisingly, as word got out Callum was approached by many people with all sorts of requests to document and collect information on his travels. His invitation to Xadia was the first opportunity humanity had in generations to unveil the mysteries of the magical continent. His aunt Amaya had approached him sternly to ask him to collect all the information he could about the Xadian military and topography, so as to update strategy in the case of re-escalation and war. Callum turned her down, after some convincing and proxy arguing through commander Gren, believing that acting as a spy would undermine the olive branch the Dragon Queen had given him. ‘It would only be an undermining of trust if you’re caught’ was a less than convincing argument. Besides, it was also not in the spirit of the thing. He was also approached by Sorien and then his sister Claudia, who had been tasked by their father to try and convince Callum to bring a series of plant and animal samples back home for use in dark magic rituals. Lord Viren would have asked himself but he was no longer on speaking terms with the royal family, having concealed the unborn Dragon Prince from King Harrow. In his own castle no less. In fear that the Xadians would take offence, he declined their requests too. 

He did pay attention however when the Katolian Royal Academy’s anthropology association contacted him and asked him to record whatever he could about the lifestyle and culture of the different elven communities he visited. Having accepted this as his secondary mission, his top priority being an emissary of Katolis to Xadia, he made his way to the foreign kingdom. He now stood at the threshold of one such elven community. A Moonshadow village called the ‘Silver Grove’ hidden by a magical mirage which required an awkward dance to enter. His elven escort, a chirpy Skywing Elf named Nyx, described it as a ‘key’, explaining that every member of the grove had their own so that they could enter and exit the secret settlement as they pleased. It was here that he was to be hosted until such time as his escort was ready to move him to Lux Aurea, the grand capital of the Sunfire elves and then later to an audience with the Dragon Queen. It was here that Callum would begin his study of the Moonshadow Elves and hopefully make a good first impression on behalf of humanity. 

———————  
The Silver Grove:

The Silver Grove was a small settlement perhaps holding just over five hundred people. Five hundred being comfortably over Dunbar’s number—an anthropological concept that Callum soon found out worked just as comfortably within elven communities as it did in human ones—and so was large enough as to prevent the close universal familiarity that existed in smaller settlements. In other words, not everyone knew everyone else's name, where they lived and so on. Callum thought this was for the best. He was already an outsider on account of being human, being the only unfamiliar face in town would only have added to the awkward state of his visit. Not that he could blend in though. 

It was very clear from the outset that he would receive a cold reception. It was plain on the faces of the Moonshadow Elves as he walked their cobblestone streets. He could see it in their sideways glances, their murmurs when they presumed him to be out of earshot and their less than subtle attempts to avoid contact with him. They kept their heads down, stopped their conversations and walked on the extreme opposite end of any sidewalk he was on as if terrified he would speak to them. News of the Dragon Queen’s royal sanction of this visit seemed not to spare Callum much of their ire. He was an intruder. An invited one? Perhaps. Expected? Yes, but an intruder nonetheless. 

Nyx must have seen Callum’s mood drop, or else she was feeling the effects of the cold reception as much as he was because she spoke up.

‘Ah, just ignore them Callum, these Moonshadow Elves have never been much fun. Very serious sorts who hate to let their hair down. You’ll get used to them. They treat everyone like this. Honestly!’ Nyx then leaned in and looked at Callum expectantly, searching to see if her words had had the desired effect on him. He gave her a half-smile and a nod, he appreciated the thought but he didn’t believe a word of it. 

‘It’s honestly not that bad, I expected worse. I mean, I’m the first human most of these elves have ever seen. I can’t expect them to warm up to me immediately.’ That seemed to satisfy Nyx who gave a reassuring, friendly grunt in his direction before picking up the pace and heading towards a massively large tree with a set of stairs spiralling around and up its trunk.

‘Here it is! Where you’ll be staying!’ She exclaimed while flying into the air for emphasis, waving her hands in the direction of the home as if showing off a prize. It seemed to be carved into the trunk of the tree in question, maybe thirty or forty meters up, a large round door marking the entrance. The door stood half-open and a middle-aged Moonshadow Elf man stood patiently to the side it. Seemingly he had been waiting for a while, long enough to become bored and begin examining his fingernails intently. Nyx’s enthusiastic announcement of Callum’s arrival seemed to awake the elf with a panic as he began to look in a series of different directions before finally making eye contact with the prince. When he did this his demeanour changed from that of fright to a friendly, if overdone, smile. He waved and yelled a greeting before running down awkwardly to meet him. Callum saw him disappear and reappear behind the tree’s trunk three times before he made it to the ground. Slightly puffed out. 

‘Welcome Prince Callum of Katolis’ the elf did a quick bow before returning to an upright position. The whole affair seemingly making quite a scene as passersby stopped their daily business to watch the exchange. Feeling their eyes on the back of his neck Callum replied swiftly.

‘There is no need for that, I am not really royalty anyway. Not by blood.’ Silence followed and Callum felt a desperate need to end it ‘just call me Callum.’ With that done the elf introduced himself. ‘My name’s Ethari and I will be your host while you stay here.’ with that Ethari extended his hand to shake and Callum took it. It was a firm handshake which Callum appreciated, he didn’t know if he could stand the awkwardness of setting the level of strength applied. Ethari then motioned for the prince to follow him up the stairs and to his home.

Nyx took the opportunity to hurriedly say her goodbyes, promising to return for the prince in three weeks time to take him to his second destination. Callum was then left alone with his new host.

‘We’re sorry we couldn’t get you your own home but the Silver Grove doesn't get many visitors and we didn’t have time to build a new house or...any accommodations really’ Ethari seemed genuinely embarrassed by the whole affair. To Callum, it made sense, a settlement concealed by magic so as to prevent strangers from finding it wouldn’t have spare rooms for passersby. ‘I’m sure you’ll love staying with us though. My husband Runaan’s a tough bloke but he’s a sweet one at heart and I’m sure you’ll make fast friends with Rayla.’ Callum presumed he would meet those two inside. Only now was it dawning on him that his immediate residency might be less of a shelter from the awkwardness of the streets and more of an “out of the frying pan into the fire” like scenario. Though he was determined to not let that show on his face. 

‘Thank you for hosting me in your home. I am very grateful.’ Callum allowed there to be a pause in the conversation before continuing. ‘It’s not that I’m not grateful, because I really truly am but why did you agree to host me?’ Ethari’s eyes darted almost immediately away, into some opposite corner of the surrounding space, his cheeks had gone a darker shade of purple—what Callum was reasonably certain was a blush—and he began ‘umming’ and ‘arring’. For a moment Callum got a sinking feeling that he had misread the situation. It wasn’t inconceivable that he didn’t agree to have the human stay in his house. Maybe he was ordered, drew the short straw at some council meeting or was pressured into doing it. Callum was overwhelmed suddenly with the feeling that he was imposing himself. 

‘I made your necklace’ he said suddenly, it wasn’t really an answer to his question but it was a helpful change of subject. ‘I was commissioned by the Dragon Queen to fashion a moonstone that would act as her gift to a prince of Katolis.’ as he said it, he couldn’t help but allow a little pride to enter his voice. It certainly lifted the mood. 

‘It’s a beautiful necklace, you must be very skilled’ Callum had decided flattery was the best course of action. Not that he was lying, it was a nice necklace.

‘That is very kind of you to say, Prince Callum. So as you can see I’m in some way responsible for your being here.’ he chuckled a little and Callum followed suit, more out of habit than anything else. ‘I couldn’t have you sleeping outside in the cold’ Callum thought that was a good answer, if slightly unsatisfying.


End file.
